San Jose officials celebrate the rollback of CEQA, which has hindered housing production. Two new bills, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, allow many developments to bypass environmental reviews. Infill housing under 20 acres and specific projects like health clinics and broadband facilities are exempted. Introduced in 1970, CEQA mandated environmental evaluations before project approvals, providing public input opportunities. With these reforms, cities and developers face fewer constraints from citizen lawsuits, aiming to enhance housing and infrastructure development in California efficiently.
"For too long, CEQA has been weaponized to delay and derail housing, infrastructure and other investments we desperately need. In fact, a majority of the lawsuits brought under CEQA are not even about the environment," San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told San José Spotlight. "With these long-overdue reforms, California is finally restoring balance to a process that has stood in the way of progress."
CEQA, signed into law in 1970 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, required governments to evaluate and publicize the environmental impacts of a project - from pollution, noise, groundwater quality and more - giving the public a chance to weigh in before it gets approved.
New housing projects built on vacant land around existing development, known as infill housing, will no longer be constrained by environmental reviews if they are under 20 acres, less than 85 feet tall and meet local zoning standards.
Other projects exempted from CEQA regulations include health clinics, child care centers, broadband, water infrastructure, food banks, farmworker housing and advanced manufacturing facilities.
Collection
[
|
...
]